There was a time not so long ago when it seemed like Mark Jackson was the only one around who still believed in Klay Thompson.

Those were the days when the second-year guard felt as if he’d been abandoned by his best friend, his outside shot and the nights when it seemed like he couldn’t have found the basket with a map and a flashlight.

Warriors fans were panicking when Thompson couldn’t make half the shots he took even once through the first three weeks — 11 games — of the season. They wanted him yanked from the starting lineup or, at the very least, reined in.

But Jackson never wavered on Thompson.

“He’s a different creature,” Jackson said back then. “He’s a great shooter. He’s going to be fine. Even great shooters go through tough stretches.”

Of course, for the great shooters, those tough stretches end. Now, it would seem that Thompson has found his way out of the dark.

While it was Jarrett Jack’s pass and Draymond Green’s layup with 0.9 seconds left in the game that was the difference in Golden State’s 97-95 win at Miami on Wednesday night, it was Thompson who did much of the heavy lifting to get there.

He scored 27 points on 11-for-21 shooting and also bagged five 3-pointers to continue a roll that just happens to coincide with the Warriors’ stunning 5-0 start to their seven-game road trip. In the winning streak, Thompson has connected on 20 of his 42 shots from behind the arc and 37-for-66 from the field overall.

While much of the attention in the long-suffering franchise’s rise this season has gone to Stephen Curry making an early bid for a berth on the Western Conference All-Star team, David Lee as a double-double machine and a new team-wide commitment to defense, the Warriors are now looking more real because one guy has kept his cool and battled back from a rough start.

mark jackson is going to be one of the front runners for the coach of the year…his 1st season was surrounded by injured players but now everyone is fine…mark jackson is proving he is not just good at talking..

he´s improving,he´s doind more basket penetrations not only the 3´s, i´m enjoying this GSW team, the West big surprise, I hope, he continues to develop, and Bogut to return this season able to play at his best, if that happens this team can make real damage..

Finally getting some exposure! The shooters on this team should scare any opponent, provide rollicking entertainment but realistically can’t be trusted to pull out a playoff series. Throw in a healthy Andrew Bogut however and now we’re talking legitimate threat. Roll on boys!!!

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I have always been high on Thompson. It’s so hard to find good shooters in the NBA especially young guys and what the Warriors have done with their young core has been awesome. To me the Warriors are definitely the next team to watch just like the Thunder were a couple of years ago and if they can find a healthy defensive centre they could definitely make some noise in the playoff in a couple of years